M. David StoneOKI B512dnThe LED-based OKI B512dn, which falls in the same category as monochrome laser printers, delivers a low running cost plus paper handling suitable for moderate use in a midsize office.

The LED-based OKI B512dn, which falls in the same category as monochrome laser printers, delivers a low running cost plus paper handling suitable for moderate use in a midsize office.

Strictly speaking, the LED-based OKI B512dn ($499) isn't a laser printer, because it uses LEDs instead of lasers to draw the image of each page on its drum. However it uses the same technology otherwise, which is why it behaves the same way as a laser printer, and falls in the same category. If you need a workhorse monochrome laser suitable for heavy-duty printing in a micro office or moderate use in a small to midsize office, it's a solid example of the breed and a strong contender.

Similar Products

The B512dn isn't as fast as the Dell B3460dn, which is our Editors' Choice for this category, and it has a lower maximum paper capacity. However, it doesn't cost as much either. Even better, its claimed running cost is the same as for the Dell B3460dn, at a low 1.6 cents per page.

The two printers also offer essentially the same level of paper handling in their standard versions—meaning without any options. The B512dn offers a 530-sheet drawer—just a touch less than the Dell printer's 550 sheets. Both include a 100-sheet multipurpose tray, and a duplexer for two-sided printing.

Where they differ significantly is in their available upgrades. If you need more capacity, you can add a second 530-sheet drawer ($229) to the B512dn, for a total of 1,160 sheets, or about half of the Dell printer's maximum capacity, with its full complement of three optional drawers. That makes the Dell model more appropriate for heavier-duty printing. However, the B512dn's paper handling is still easily enough for up to moderate printing in a midsize office.

Mobile PrintingAnother potentially useful touch for the B512dn is mobile printing. If you connect it directly to a network, using either Ethernet or the printer's optional Wi-Fi module ($75), you can print to it through the cloud. In addition, if you have a Wi-Fi access point on your network, you can print to it from iOS and Android smartphones and tablets by connecting through the access point.

The Wi-Fi option doesn't support Wi-Fi Direct or the equivalent, which means that if you connect the printer to a single PC via USB cable rather than to your network, you can't take advantage of mobile printing. However, any office that needs this heavy-duty a printer is almost certainly going to connect it to a network, so this won't be an issue in most cases.

Setup and SpeedThe B512dn weighs only 28 pounds 11 ounces, making it easy for one person to move into place. It should also be easy to find room for, at 11.2 by 15.2 by 15.5 inches (HWD). Setup is standard for a monochrome laser. For my tests, I installed the driver on a system running Windows Vista, and connected the printer to a network using its Ethernet port.

The engine rating for the B512dn, and the speed you should see when printing text documents or other files that need little to no processing, is 47 pages per minute (ppm). However, the effective speed on our tests was much slower. On our business applications suite, I timed it (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at just 6.7ppm. In comparison, the Dell 3460dn managed 15ppm, and the much less expensive OKI B412dn came in at 9.6ppm.

It's important to understand the reason for the slow speed on our tests. Our results are typically much slower than engine ratings both because most of our test files include graphics and photos that add time for processing, and because we time what's known as throughput, starting from the time we give the print command to the time the last page comes out of the printer. Engine ratings leave out the initial lag before the pages actually start printing.

Including that lag obviously slows the overall speed. However, the slowdown for B512dn is greater than for most other printers, because the B512dn takes longer than much of the competition to warm up at the start of a print job.

To put the results in context, keep in mind that our tests consist of one- to four-page documents, because most offices print far more short documents than long ones. That means a long initial lag will affect our results far more than if we timed longer documents. It also means that if you print longer documents, the B512dn's fast speed for the actual printing will help make up for the slow start.

Output QualityThe B512dn's output quality is more than good enough for most purposes. Text is slightly below par for the category. However, monochrome lasers as a group handle text so well that—unless you have an unusual need for small fonts—even slightly subpar is easily good enough for almost any business need.

Graphics quality is at the high end of a tight range that includes the vast majority of monochrome laser printers. That makes it easily good enough for internal business use. Most people would also consider it good enough for PowerPoint handouts and the like. Photo quality is more than good enough to print recognizable images from photos on Web pages.

For heavy-duty printing by midsize office standards, be sure to consider the Dell B3460dn, whose fast speed and high maximum paper capacity keep it firmly in place as our preferred pick. If you can do without the Dell printer's fast speed for short documents, however, the OKI B512dn offers the same low claimed cost per page, ample paper capacity for most offices, and a lower price, making it an attractive choice as a less expensive alternative.

Read More

About the Author

M. David Stone is an award-winning freelance writer and computer industry consultant. Although a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a top company in the gaming industry. David is also an expert in imaging technologies (including printers, moni... See Full Bio

Bottom Line: Upgrading from McAfee Internet Security to McAfee Total Protection gets you a file encryption utility and extra licenses for the password manager. Unless you need those features, you may be better off with McAfee AntiVirus Plus.

OKI B512dn

OKI B512dn

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.